Drama-loving UT wins Austin Regional

AUSTIN — Turns out, winning the longest game in NCAA Division I history was just the opening act.

One night after beating Boston College in an epic 25-inning affair, the Texas Longhorns erased a four-run ninth-inning deficit, using a game-ending grand slam from Preston Clark to beat Army 14-10. With the victory, the Longhorns advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since winning the 2005 national championship.

The Black Knights had taken a 10-6 lead in the eighth inning on back-to-back home runs from Clint Moore and Joey Henshaw. But the Longhorns loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the ninth, scored one run on a walk, then tied the score when Brandon Loy crushed a three-run double off the left field wall.

Two walks later, Clark stepped into the batter’s box and demolished the first pitch he saw from Kevin McKague, sending it just inside the left-field foul pole and setting off a frenzy culminating with a dogpile at home plate.

The Longhorns, the top seed in the tournament, will host next week’s Austin Super Regional, a best-of-three series against TCU.